Germanos Karavangelis

Germanos Karavangelis (Greek: Γερμανός Καραβαγγέλης, also transliterated as Yermanos and Karavaggelis or Karavagelis, 1866–1935) was known for his service as Metropolitan Bishop of Kastoria and later Amaseia, Pontus. He was a member of the Hellenic Macedonian Committee and functioned as one of the major coordinators of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.

His Eminence

Germanos Karavangelis
Γερμανός Καραβαγγέλης
Karavangelis as the Metropolitan Bishop of Amaseia c. 1919
Born
Stylianos Karavangelis

(1866-06-16)June 16, 1866
Stipsi, Ottoman Empire
DiedFebruary 11, 1935
Vienna, Austria
NationalityGreek
Occupation(s)Metropolitan Bishop
Revolutionary
Organization Hellenic Macedonian Committee
MovementMacedonian Struggle
Pontic Struggle
Awards Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer
Order of the White Eagle
Order of Saint Sava

Early life and career

Germanos Karavangelis was born Stylianos in 1866, in the village of Stipsi on Lesbos, then still under Ottoman rule. His father was a Psariot by the name of Chrysostomos and his mother was Maria. He had seven other siblings which included six sisters and one brother. When he was two years old, his family moved to Adramyttio, Asia-Minor (now Edremit, Turkey) where his father opened a shop. There, he attended school and was awarded a scholarship to study at the Theological School of Halki.[1] He graduated in 1888, when he was ordained a Deacon and received the name Germanos. He then went on to study philosophy at the University of Leipzig and University of Bonn.

Germanos received a doctorate and went to Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) where in 1891 he was assigned as a professor of Ecclesiastical History and Theology at the Theological School of Halki, where he had previously attended. As a professor, he wrote an encyclopedia of theology as well as scientific works and ecclesiastical discourses. In 1886, he was ordained a bishop with the title "Bishop of Charioupolis." At this new position, he fought for more Greek education and to curb anti-Greek sentiment. He assisted in sending Greek students abroad for higher education and was successful in recruiting 130 to the newly built Zografeion Lyceum. He also founded a girls' school by the name of "Karavangeli Girls' School."[1] Karavangelis would also organize Sunday school classes and train new Clergymen.

From 1896 to 1900 he would serve as the Bishop of Pera (now Beyoğlu, Turkey).

Metropolitan of Kastoria and the Macedonian Struggle

He was a Metropolitan Bishop of Kastoria, in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, from 1900 until 1907, appointed in the name of the Greek state by the ambassador of Greece Nikolaos Mavrokordatos[2] and was one of the main coordinators of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia that had an aim to defend the Greek and Greek Orthodox clerical interests against the Turks and the Bulgarians in then Ottoman Turkish-ruled Macedonia.

During the Macedonian struggle, Karavangelis directed the Greek response to supporters of the Bulgarian cause, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) and the Exarchate.[3] At the time Karavangelis would travel in rural areas, and portrayed a fierce image of himself dressed with a dark raincoat, a bandolier on side of his shoulder and a gun on the other with a scarf tied around his clerical hat.[3] He would assist in raising the morale of those aligned with the Patriarchate and in organizing armed bands to fight the Komitadjis. Karavangelis viewed Bulgarian influence within the area as a threat to Greek interests. He advocated for close relations and interaction among Turks and Greeks in the region, only in the context of when it was needed.[3] Karavangelis viewed the rivalry between the Patriarchate and Exarchate as without religious dimensions and that the main concern preoccupying Balkan states was the post-Ottoman future of in the region after the empire was removed from Macedonia.[3] Greece at the time sent more funds, men and arms to individuals such as Karavangelis in Macedonia.[3][4] He was successful in returning many villages to the Patriarchate.

Germanos Karavangelis at the grave of Pavlos Melas.
Germanos Karavangelis surrounded by Ottoman soldiers and officers in Kastoria.

Karavangelis organized armed groups composed mainly of Greek army officers and volunteers brought from Crete, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greek populated areas,[2] and even worked with Pavlos Melas. He also recruited local Macedonian Greeks[2] such as the chieftain Vangelis Strebreniotis from the village of Srebreni (now Asprogeia), and Konstantinos Kottas, a former member of IMRO, who in 1903, under the orders of Karavangelis, killed and beheaded Bulgarian revolutionary Lazar Poptraykov. The head was delivered to Karavangelis, which he placed on his desk and photographed it.

The head of Lazar Poptraykov on the desk of Germanos Karavangelis (1903).

In 1905, Karavangelis was present when Orthodox priest Kristo Negovani conducted the Divine Liturgy in the Albanian Tosk dialect.[5][6] Karavangelis denounced the usage of Albanian in mass and under his orders had Negovani murdered.[5]

Karavangelis succeeded to strengthen Greek aspirations in Macedonia and thus helped the later incorporation of the major part of Macedonia by Greece in the Balkan Wars, for which he is praised as a national hero of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia ("Makedonomachos"). He is the author of the book of memoirs "The Macedonian Struggle" (Greek: Ο Μακεδονικός Αγών).

Metropolitan of Amaseia and the Greco-Turkish War

In 1907, following Bulgarian complaints and Russian pressure, Karavangelis was removed from his position by orders of the Sultan. He returned to Constantinople as a Synod until the collapse of the Diocese of Amaseia in January 1908. The Patriarch had requested that Karavangelis fill the recently vacated position, and so he became the Metropolitan of Amaseia, based in Sampsounta. There, he helped create schools in the most remote villages and established a high school for Greek education. He also assisted in the formation of armed groups to defend the Greek and Armenian population from Turkish aggression and persecution by the Young Turks. During massacres of local Armenians, Karavangelis along with Chrysanthos of Trebizond and Bishop Efthymios were able to save hundreds by hiding them in the Metropolitan Church and other Greek homes. Their efforts were recognized by a United States-based Armenian newspaper.[1] For his actions, he was arrested and sent to Constantinople in 1917, where he would remain in prison for some time.

Following his release and the intensification of the Greco-Turkish War, he was sentenced to death in absentia by Mustafa Kemal's military tribunal in 1921. In the same year, Karavangelis proposed a Greek-Armenian-Kurdish cooperation to subdue the Turkish Nationalist Movement, to the Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Baltatzis. This, however, would not come to flourishment. He was also large advocate for a Republic of Pontus which had made him an even larger target for the Turkish Nationalist forces.

In August 1922, he was in Bucharest for the coronation of Ferdinand I of Romania when disaster struck the Greeks. He got on the first ship to Constantinople, however he was not permitted to leave the steamer by the troops of Kemal. He was given a letter by the Patriarch which had notified him that if he left the boat he would be arrested and executed. The Patriarch appointed him Metropolitan of Ioannina for his own safety.

Later Career and Death

In 1924, having been the Metropolitan of Ioannina for just over a year, Karavangelis received a letter notifying him of his appointment of Metropolitan of the Ecumenical Patriarchate based in Budapest. He initially protested, however, he was not listened to. Many believe Karavangelis was replaced based on his Venizelist views and he considered this appointment a mockery and a form of exile. in April of the same year, the Patriarchate proposed a transfer of the headquarters from Budapest to Vienna. After his relocation, he worked tirelessly to revitalize Greek communities in Austria and neighbouring Hungary and Italy.

In 1926, he was angered by the decision of dictatorial government of Theodoros Pangalos to cut his salary by over half and was forced to rely on donations for basic needs.

On February 11, 1935, Germanos Karavangelis died of a heart attack in a hotel south of Vienna at 68 years of age. He was buried in Vienna despite his request to be buried in Greece in his will.

Legacy

Germanos Karavangelis ranks among the most well known participants of the Greek struggle for Macedonia.

He was awarded Order of the White Eagle and Order of Saint Sava.[7]

His memoirs from the Macedonian Struggle were published in 1959. In 1992, his account, along with those of other Makedonomachoi, was included in Figures of the Macedonian Struggle, together with the "Affairs of Pontus" by Germanos Karavangelis by Antigoni Bellou-Threpsiadis.

Also in 1959, the "Institute for the Study of the Balkan Peninsula", along with the "Society for Macedonian Studies" (both of Thessaloniki) arranged the transfer of his bones, first to Thessaloniki, then finally to Kastoria.

There are monuments dedicated to him in Kastoria.

  • A bust of Germanos Karavagelis.
    A bust of Germanos Karavagelis.
  • A memorial depicting Germanos Karavangelis (left) and Pavlos Melas (right).
    A memorial depicting Germanos Karavangelis (left) and Pavlos Melas (right).
  • Statue of Germanos Karavangelis.
    Statue of Germanos Karavangelis.

See also

Notes
  1. Since 1924 all of the Greek parishes in the territories of Austria, Hungary and Italy came under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. However it was only in 1963 that the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria was formally organized.
  2. "Metropolitan Germanus was condemned to death in absentia by the Turkish authorities on June 7, 1921, and subsequently could not return to Turkey. He remained in Vienna as Exarch of Central Europe of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the period 1924–1935."[10]

References
  1. Ανεστίδης, Σταύρος (1992). Αρχείο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών. p. 357.
  2. (in Greek) Γερμανού Καραβαγγέλη. "Ο Μακεδονικός Αγών (Απομνημονεύματα), Εταιρία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου".Θεσσαλονίκη. 1959.
  3. Glenny, Misha. The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-1999. London: Granta Books, 1999. p. 206. "in the [Macedonian] villages genuinely committed to the [Bulgarian] Exarchate of VMRO, the Greeks behaved like vengeful bullies, executing suspected renegades and holding the [Greek] Patriarchate version of the Mass at gunpoint (...). This Greek blacklash was orchestrated by the gun-toting bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis. This extraordinary figure, (...) 'had a Männlicher slung over one shoulder, a bandolier over the other, a belt round his middle from which hung his holster carrying a large pistol and a knife'. Karavangelis appeared consciously to cultivate an image of threatening romanticism. The bishop considered Bulgarian influence in the region to be the greatest threat to Greek national interests. He therefore advocated close friendship and cooperation between the Greeks and Turks of Macedonia, but only as an expedient. Karavangelis was fully aware that there was no religious aspect to the struggle between the Exarcate and the Patriarchate --he admitted openly that the only issue in Macedonia was the future contours of the Balkan states once the Turks had been thrown out."
  4. Citing Douglas Dankin, The Greek struggle in Macedonia 1897-1913, Thessaloniki, 1966, p. 126.
  5. Blumi, Isa (2011). Reinstating the Ottomans, Alternative Balkan Modernities: 1800–1912. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. p. 167. ISBN 9780230119086. "Negovani's actions caused institutional responses that ultimately intensified the contradictions facing the church and its imperial patron. In the end, Papa Kristo Negovani was murdered for his acts of defiance of the explicit orders of Karavangjelis, the Metropolitan of Kastoria, who condemned the use of Toskërisht during mass."
  6. Blumi, Isa (2021). "Ottoman Albanians in an Era of Transition: An Engagement with a Fluid Modern World". In Chovanec, Johanna; Heilo, Olof (eds.). Narrated Empires: Perceptions of Late Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism. Springer. p. 207. ISBN 9783030551995.
  7. Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 600.
  8. (in Greek) Τάσος Αθ. Γριτσόπουλος. "Γερμανός. Ὁ Καραβαγγέλης." Θρησκευτική και Ηθική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια (ΘΗΕ). Τόμος 4 (Βυζάντιον-Διοκλής). Αθηναι – Αθαν. Μαρτινος, 1964. σελ. 400–402.
  9. (in Greek) Αλεξούδης, Άνθιμος. Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias - Dictionary of Greek. 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  10. Kiminas 2009, pp. 97.

Sources

Greek Sources

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